Also the one glaring howler was a speculative miss pass to no one in their 22. However, the ref had called advantage so Dancer probably saw it as a free play. Toonie has instilled in Glasgow the confidence to back themselves and trust their instincts. Sometimes it won't come off but as the Aussie s say "Don't die wondering".

The SRU Christmas party is scheduled for a week on Tuesday. Take it from someone who’s been to a couple: they’re a lot more fun than they sound. For the chief executive, Mark Dodson, the bash can’t come soon enough. He’ll relish the chance to stop talking turkey for five minutes and actually eat the thing.

The Mancunian, who chairs the union’s contracts panel for both Edinburgh and Glasgow, has more than 50 players on his plate, and in his ear, looking to see what’s happening with deals which expire at the end of May. The outcome of these conversations will tell us plenty about the prospects of the professional clubs, not just for next year but the following few as well. Dodson hasn’t made any attempt to sugar-coat his concerns about the pace of change in England and France, and this is looking like the point when some of those fears will be realised.

Willem Nel, Grant Gilchrist, Alex Dunbar and Mark Bennett are among those being discussed in the boardrooms of the Top 14, while Hamish Watson’s displays in the November Tests have attracted interest from Harlequins and Northampton. The SRU went big (a record £375,000 a year, it is thought) to keep hold of Stuart Hogg, and another chunky renewal means that if a rival club is prepared to buy Jonny Gray out of a deal that takes him to 2018, they will have to stump up a significant fee.

But with income from the Pro12 having hit a plateau, and no sign of further “transformative” inward investment on the same scale as what they get from BT, the union have little option but to be sparing about when and why they push the boat out. Their problem is that, having done so for the Glasgow pair, they’ve created an expectation among the squads at either end of the M8. Dunbar, Bennett, Horne, Nel and Watson are all in a better bargaining position than they were the last time they came to the table. The same goes for Rory Sutherland and Magnus Bradbury, who have both been capped, and also Tim Swinson, who has become an ever more relevant figure for club and country since renewing with Glasgow in 2014.

If Nel, an outstanding exponent of a specialist position, can name his price, market conditions have made even those on the rungs below more bullish than they would have been 12 months ago. Several sources we spoke to said the offers coming out of the SRU fall below market average.

The union can’t spend what it doesn’t have but as it seeks to attract external investment in both Edinburgh and Glasgow, it also needs a vision to sell. The same goes for its conversations with individual members of the capital club’s squad at a time where there isn’t even certainty as to who will be their coach next year. Duncan Hodge currently has an input, but until such time as his appointment is made permanent, or a replacement is sourced and announced, it’s hard to see what would convince the likes of Nel, Gilchrist and John Hardie to commit. Where is the money, or long-term strategy, to win the argument?

Over at the Warriors, they are keen to see Tommy Seymour follow Hogg and finalise his renewal. The signs are that he will. Of the centres, Horne will likely stay, Bennett is interesting his old club Clermont and Dunbar has potentially the biggest decision of his career to make. Although the midfielder is only 26, his body has already taken a battering through a variety of injuries and the unflinching way he plays. Form alone does not dictate the curve of a career, and Dunbar will be mindful that timing is everything. Whether he elects to stick or twist, he isn’t short of options.

The biggest thing Glasgow have been able to offer players in recent years is continuity, the chance to build and progress with their mates under the nose of the national coaches. This remains an attractive proposition, but so is earning more and still being picked for Scotland. The Warriors stand to free up as much as £450,000 a year by not renewing the deals of Josh Strauss and Ryan Grant (re-signed six months after touring with the 2013 Lions), and it may be that they choose to spread the love, giving the likes of Henry Pyrgos, Gordon Reid and Simone Favaro enough of a reason to stay put.

Adam Ashe is an interesting one, what with his main proponent, Vern Cotter, moving on and a number of other back-rowers having impressed for Scotland while the 23-year-old has been injured. He and the union may have contrasting ideas about his value, and Gregor Townsend’s view could yet be decisive.

Edinburgh have far less dead wood to get rid of than last summer, but that doesn’t make their task any more straightforward.

Take Blair Kinghorn, a 19-year-old in the last six months of his first professional contract. The lanky teen has been given a chance, has generally seized it, and is assumed to be loving life at his home-town club. Throw in his eligibility for England, through a grandparent link, and the whole picture becomes less clear. The funding Premiership clubs receive from the RFU depends on them having the requisite number of England- qualified players in their squad. Here’s one that would do a job, and potentially much more, at less than the usual cost. Who cares if he ever actually plays for England?

There’s every chance Kinghorn will stay at Edinburgh. But in hindsight, it may have been perversely unfortunate that his best performance came against Harlequins. If that display drew even a couple of cursory inquiries from over the border, and our information is that it did, the SRU will end up paying more than they expected to keep him. All fun and games, until someone loses a world-class tighthead.

It will be interesting to see what level of influence Dave Rennie has on Glasgow’s recruitment. Townsend has confirmed that he is actively involved, and it wasn’t too hard to join the dots that led to the recent arrival of Waikato lock Brian Alainu’uese. Rennie’s name commands instant respect in the southern hemisphere, and may help the Warriors open new doors. Will one of them lead to Huw Jones, the Stormers centre who made such an impact for Scotland last month?

There is also no getting away from the fact that he’s under contract with the Western Province RFU until the end of the 2017 Super Rugby season, and, despite being in all sorts of financial trouble, they are not thought to be remotely keen on letting him leave early. Which may be just as well for the SRU — after all, could they justify paying a transfer fee?

The union have their hands full. About as full as the coffers being lugged about by their rivals as they seek out new recruits.

Interesting article about the ongoing contract negotiations and showing how hard it will be to hold on to a lot of big names.

Seems to heavily suggest that Strauss and Grant will be off from Glasgow and they may also struggle with Bennett and Dunbar. For Edinburgh it would seem that Kinghorn has attracted some attention down south as well.

If Huw Jones does arrive, it may well be at the expense of one of the existing Scotland centres.

Ryan Grant? Sadly we wouldn't miss him. His form has dipped and never recovered since the Lion's tour.

No, the Lions tour did not seem to do him any favours and he seems to be the one of the kebab shop trio who have let it effect them the most.

Toonie seems to be using him as a squad player now and he is well behind Reid and Allen in the pecking order. Maybe he will get a bit of game time in the new year and put himself in the market place for a new contract somewhere else, he is certainly young enough to play on for a few more years.

I might be going out on a limb here, but I do wonder if we have not seen the best of Josh Strauss in a Glasgow shirt as well. The joke that when Ryan Wilson plays No.8 for Scotland was that he was not even the best No.8 at Glasgow. Sadly that is not currently the case, Wilson is in stonking form and Strauss is not. You do wonder if the attritional nature of his career has caught up with him. Miles on the clock and all that.

rodders wrote:Superb result for Glasgow, good to see them bringing their quality into Europe... the pro12 bites back!

The problem is that Maro Itoje was also playing this weekend Rodders, so with 17 pictures of him per page (plus praise) there obviously wasn't enough space to mention this result in the English broadsheets.

rodders wrote:Superb result for Glasgow, good to see them bringing their quality into Europe... the pro12 bites back!

The problem is that Maro Itoje was also playing this weekend Rodders, so with 17 pictures of him per page (plus praise) there obviously wasn't enough space to mention this result in the English broadsheets.

Just the 17? Beshocked will be apoplectic, and wonder why (insert player here) is being treated as a deity